Couple transform it into £1.5m seaside holiday home - PHOTO

Alex Michaelis, 49, and Susanna Bell, 43, fell in love with the house in 2009 despite it being overgrown, ramshackle and on a cliff-top which is slowly eroding away.But despite the doubts of council planners - who said they were 'completely mad' - they knocked down the home overlooking Praa Sands near Penzance, Cornwall, and turned it into an ultra-modern holiday let where every major window faces the seaThe couple, from west London, said they almost missed the three-bedroom original cottage on their first viewing because it was so badly concealed by undergrowth.They wanted to revamp the house without demolishing it but were told the task would be almost impossible because so many parts of the house were rotting away. So they set about creating a house reminiscent of the hit TV show Grand Designs, with sleek white walls and wide open spaces.Architect Mr Michaelis ensured all the main rooms of the new house face the sea, including space for a ping pong table and hammock alongside its five bathrooms and four bedrooms, one of which is a bunk bed room big enough for five people.They let out the home to holidaymakers for up to £5,000 a week in peak season and informal estimates have put its value at £1.5million.But their true profit will remain a mystery - as they have kept the cost of demolishing the old house and building its replacement tightly under wraps.Ms Bell, an art consultant, said: 'We were amazed by the uninterrupted sea views and thought the location was amazing - it was magical.'We just fell in love with it and decided to buy it, but we had no real idea what we were going to do with it.'The original cottage hadn't been lived in for a while. We bought the house because of the stunning views but the cottage itself was in need of some renovation so we decided to knock it down.'Because the building was on an eroding coastline, when we went to apply for planning the council said we were completely mad - but we went ahead with it and we are now looking into some coastal defences.'The ocean is just so beautiful and it's lovely to sit in the main room and look at the stunning view. We have even seen dolphins and basking sharks.'Ms Bell said: 'The ocean is just so beautiful and it's lovely to sit in the main room and look at the stunning view. We have even seen dolphins and basking sharks'(dailymail.co.uk)Bakudaily.az